Rajon Rondo, the Celtics All-Star point guard who is recovering from knee surgery, said he’ll be returning this season, but he just doesn’t know when exactly.

“Whenever I’m able to jump off my right leg and probably dunk, that’s when I think I’ll be back to play,” Rondo said after the Celtics closed out their preseason Wednesday night with a 101-97 win over the Brooklyn Nets at TD Garden, giving Boston a 2-6 preseason record.

Rondo tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in January and had surgery the next month.

He is not expected to play when the Celtics open their regular season Oct. 30 against the Raptors in Toronto, and there has been speculation that Rondo might not play until December or later.

Rondo is still not allowed to do contact drills, but he said he just got fitted for his first brace, “so I don’t think contact will be too far from now. I’m just waiting to get cleared by my doctor.”

He said his right leg is at about 87 percent, “give or take, depending on how my day goes.”

But Rondo, as he has said before, wants to be his old self when he returns.

“If they want me to ease into it — it’s going to be hard to tell me to ease into something,” he said. “Once I get back out there, I want to go full speed. I don’t want any limitation. That’s when I’ll return, when I’m able to do that.

And when will he know when he’s ready?

“I’ll know when it’s right,” he said. “Everybody is different, each injury is different . . . For me, when I come back, I won’t come back unless I know I’m myself again.”

Nash eyes Olynyk

In an article for ESPN Insider, Steve Nash, the general manager of the Canadian national team, projected Celtics rookie Kelly Olynyk as a starting center for Canada if it qualifies for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Olynyk was born in Toronto and grew up in Kamloops, British Columbia, and has said that he’d consider it an honor to play for his country in the Olympics if he has an opportunity to do so.

Happy return for Terry

Former Celtics guard Jason Terry returned to TD Garden for the first time since being traded to Brooklyn this summer in a blockbuster swap that also shipped Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to the Nets.

“It was special just to see some of my fans that were courtside that I used to talk to and throw headbands and stuff to,” said Terry, who scored 7 points on 3-of-7 shooting in 24 minutes.

“They gave me a warm welcome, and that was good.”

The 36-year-old Terry played for the Celtics for one season and struggled, averaging 10.1 points during the 2012-13 campaign, his worst scoring output since his rookie season, when he averaged 8.1.

Faverani block party

Jared Sullinger (illness) sat out the game and Vitor Faverani started in his place. Faverani’s six blocks were one fewer than the Celtics had all preseason heading into the game . . . As a joke, Reggie Evans and his teammates autographed a pair of lemons and had a ballboy deliver them across the locker room to his former teammates, MarShon Brooks and Keith Bogans.